One Dark Window
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4.5 • 1.3K Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
THE FANTASY BOOKTOK SENSATION!
For fans of Uprooted and For the Wolf comes a dark, lushly gothic fantasy about a maiden who must unleash the monster within to save her kingdom—but the monster in her head isn't the only threat lurking.
Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her.
Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom she calls home—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets.
But nothing comes for free, especially magic.
When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it. Except the highwayman just so happens to be the King’s own nephew, Captain of the Destriers…and guilty of high treason.
He and Elspeth have until Solstice to gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly, darkly, taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gillig's spooky, unpolished gothic fantasy debut and series launch introduces Elspeth Spindle, who has spent her life hiding how a magical fever known as the "infection" gave her the ability to absorb the power from Providence Cards, 12 playing cards used to perform specific kinds of legal magic. Touching just one card led to a monster, Nightmare, taking residence in Elspeth's head and frequently commandeering her body. Nightmare helps Elspeth fight off a highwayman searching for her uncle's Providence Cards—only for the highwayman to be revealed as the king's nephew, Ravyn Yew. Now Elspeth is drawn into a desperate conspiracy to collect all 12 card types by the solstice to cure the infection before the King kills Ravyn's infected younger brother and Nightmare completely takes over Elspeth body. There are some hiccups here: Nightmare's penchant for speaking in oddly metered rhyming couplets feels inappropriately twee in such a blood-drenched book, and the twist reveal of Nightmare's true identity is entirely obvious. Still, the steamy romance that emerges between Elspeth and Ravyn delights. Fans of Sarah J. Maas, Naomi Novak, and Hannah Whitten will want to check this out.
Customer Reviews
Elspeth, Ravyn, and the Nightmare… Oh my!
I started reading One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig with cautious enthusiasm and am disappointed it took so long for me to get to it.
First, the magic system is solid, and it has consequences—real, painful, horrible ones. Every character that wields it pays a price. If this weren’t YA, that price would be The Exorcist levels of horror instead of “OMG cursed with spooky vibes.”
Our protagonist, Elspeth, had a magical fever as a child, but instead of being executed (which was the vibe at the time), she ends up with the Nightmare living in her cabeza. Their dynamic is one of the most interesting parts of the book. It’s a “spooky voice in my head gives me powers,” paired with a “What We Do in the Shadows” snark where the Nightmare inside her has opinions, and commentary, and takes general enjoyment in messing with her. Their interactions range from fascinating to frustrating, and sometimes, the Nightmare comes off as the overdramatic town gossip.
I don’t hate the romance, but I also wasn’t sitting here getting the vapors because of the sexual tension. Yeah, yeah, it’s slow-burn. I’m ok with that. I don’t always need an Amelia Hutchins “tie me up in a dungeon so I can fall in love with you” boom-shakalaka. Her main man in the book (who from the start was pretty obvious) is Ravyn. He’s a-ahight. Not super exciting. I’m hoping he grows into it in the next book.
Overall, One Dark Window has a solid magic system, characters with depth, and a world that feels dangerous. It’s not a flawless debut, but it’s far better than a lot of YA first books out there, especially ones that rely more on hype than substance.
Would I recommend it? Absolutely, no question about it. I’ve already got the the next book Two Twisted Crowns in my hands.
Wonderful fantasy read
I didn’t have high expectations of this book but it was actually very good once you grasp the explanation of the cards in the first few chapters. Go ahead and get the second book also because it does end mid story
The dark window
Read it now !! Such a good book !